Irenaeus

Irenaeus

Irenaeus (; Greek: Εἰρηναῖος Eirēnaios; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by combating heterodox or Gnostic interpretations of Scripture as heresy and defining proto-orthodoxy. Originating from Smyrna, he had seen and heard the preaching of Polycarp, who in turn was said to have heard John the Evangelist, and thus was the last-known living connection with the Apostles. Chosen as bishop of Lugdunum, now Lyon, his best-known work is Against Heresies, often cited as Adversus Haereses, a refutation of gnosticism, in particular that of Valentinus. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Irenaeus has received more than 1,933,407 page views. His biography is available in 60 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 58 in 2019). Irenaeus is the 252nd most popular religious figure (down from 213th in 2019), the 96th most popular biography from Turkey (down from 89th in 2019) and the 10th most popular Turkish Religious Figure.

Irenaeus is most famous for his work "Against Heresies." In this work, he argued that the four gospels were the only reliable sources of information about Jesus.